I turned on the registration feature for the comments on this blog. After the TOI incident I got way too many comments that I felt got out of hand. And also, why it seemed like a nice gesture at that time I re-read the article and realized some things were taken out of context. This blog is meant for my friends and family back in LA/PDX and it is not a public forum. Any comments from unknown people will now be deleted. Sorry to be a bitch but it's annoying to have people arguing about petty things on my blog.

Just great...Kylie just learned how to bark and barked at me today. Where does she learn these things from? :) She's starting to look like a little fox!

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday it was India's 57th birthday and today it's my 27th birthday! I would also like to wish Madonna a happy birthday too! I have no plans yet but I am sure I will find something to do to celebrate. Maybe I will treat myself to a 6 hour Ayurvedic spa & massage treatment. Sounds nice, heh?

The Dark Side

The dark side of living here...and I literally mean dark side is the common power outages that happen on my block. So far I've had a total of 10 hours of no power spread over three days this past weekend. Its been raining quite a bit so I am sure that is the cause of the power outages. That is troubling for me. I don't mind if its just 15 minutes to 1 hour of no power but 2, 3, or 4? Especially since I work from home in the evenings it is not very convenient. I am going to look into getting an 6-8 hour power inverter or a generator. I need to prepare myself for these things, which also reminds me that I need to get more candles. It always happens when I am at home of course. I never know what to do when the power goes out. The ironic part is someone asked me if I've experienced terrible power outages yet and for the last two weeks of living in this particular apartment I actually haven't. I believe that person jinxed me so from now on there will never be a mention of power outages here...okay? When something like this happens, if it's daytime then I usual read a book. But at night when there's not enough light from the candles I just sit there with Kylie and we'll play puppy games in the semi-darkness. Or I just reminisce about my 24 hour power supply back in the States and how this never happens there.
Just one of those days.... :)

Happy Independence Day! :)

The Times of India

What a delightful surprise to read a mention of my blog on the Times of India! How cool is that? The Return of Goras written by Chidanand Rajghatta, talks about my transition to Bangalore within the last couple of months. It has also been a real pleasure reading comments from Indians from both local and international locations. I appreciate the insights you all have been offering. I am looking forward to many more great experiences here. Thanks for the wonderful article Times of India! It's like an early birthday gift for me! I turn 27 tomorrow! :)

First two months of hell is over!

Okay, so the transition to Bangalore wasn't all that easy. The first two months were hell and sure there were good times but who says that moving to an "emerging market" is ever easy! My team mate just came back from a 4 week business trip to PDX. After seeing the "lifestyle" there she highly commends me for my acceptance and patience of the life and culture here in Bangalore. Its funny to hear her say that she is homesick for Portland....I am too! After all I did exchange my life in Portland for a life that is the complete opposite of what I have always known. But now that I have moved into my own apartment, furnished it, found tofu, garlic powder, diet coke at a market just two minutes away, enjoying my 5 minute commute to work; I feel like I am now finally starting to feel and flow with the rhythm of life here. That is a beautiful feeling. But I do miss my everything & everyone I left behind in Portland and SoCal. I try not to think about it too much...and that helps.

Soooo....I live in a very nice neighborhood in Bangalore. I consider it to be the NW 23rd of Bangalore...I think all the yuppies live here. On my street there is a really good market, fruit stands, chinese restaurants, juice stands, etc. I have everything there. Then just 10 minutes away, there is a street called CMH Rd. where there are more restaurants, music stores, international markets, clothing stores, coffee shops (the favorite coffee shop here is Coffee Day - there is no Star Bucks here), etc. Its like NW 23rd & NW 21st....minus the infrastructure though. Well actually the infrastructure in this part of the locality is fairly good compared to other parts. But I LOVE it here! Its a central location and very close to the major points of the city. I also don't drive. I take the public transporation, either an auto rickshaw (a three wheeled auto) or city taxi. You can find autorickshaws everywhere...each morning I just walk out onto my street and a 50 feet away there is always one waiting. I take that to work...and 5 minutes later I am there. It is very convenient. Its nice not having to drive.

My apartment is a modest 1 bedroom apartment on the first floor of an independent house. My rent is around $155/month and it was unfurnished. What that means...there is no fridge, stove, washing machine, etc. I had to get all those things myself. The stove is gas powered. I had to purchase a gas cylinder that hooks up to the stove and I have to get it refilled every month. It was pretty fun furnishing my own place.....I've never had my own washing machine before and now I do. I got some really cute furniture here for very good prices. I will take some pictures of my place and post some up soon. I also went to a club two weeks ago and had a blast! I will write more about that later.